Kennedy Series Starring Katie Holmes And Greg Kinnear Won’t Air

The History Channel spent millions of dollars to produce a series about the Kennedys starring Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes as John and Jackie Kennedy, but has decided not to air the series. The History Channel spent millions more on this series than any other show it ever produced. Now, the question is what happens to this expensive eight part series.

Once completed, the History Channel was unhappy that series appeared to be highly fictionalized and was criticized as unhistorical and grossly inaccurate by some former Kennedy Administration officials and by some historians. Further, political pressures by some political liberals as well as Kennedy family fans including a petition drive helped to put a lid on the project.

A few years back, CBS produced a miniseries about Ronald Reagan, but once again political critics put a lid on the project. The series never aired on CBS, but was later sold to Showtime and played on this pay TV cable channel.

Networks seem to run into problems when they want to air political fiction. Pressure groups from the right or left often quickly attempt to censor projects they think might not project them in some positive light. They can care less that that the whole intent of film is to entertain, not brainwash someone into their own thinking.

Freedom of expression isn’t totally dead in the United States. But, censorship of major projects proves that freedom of expression often hangs by a thin thread. And that’s wrong. Filmmakers shouldn’t have to satisfy to political tastes of critics. They’re only job is to entertain us.

Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear are major actors. This series needs to air somewhere so the public can make up their own mind as to whether this is a good film series or not. Censorship sucks. For too many years, some churches and political forces have forced their own opinions on filmmakers and the American public, forcing artists to work in narrow constraints so not as to offend some pressure group. Filmmakers cannot make good products if they have to satisfy pressure groups, rather than concentrate on good filmmaking.

Some preview scenes such as the assassination in Dallas scene have an eerie appearance, where the film looks very interesting. Regardless of the critics, I’d like to be allowed to judge this film for myself, thank you.